Germany Says Copying of DVDs, CDs Is Verboten

Billosaur writes "In what can only be seen as the opening salvo in an attempt to control what users can do with content, the German parliament has approved a controversial copyright law which will make it illegal to make copies of CDs and DVDs, even for personal use. The Bundesrat, the upper part of the German parliament, approved the legislation over the objections of consumer protection groups. The law is set to take effect in 2008, and covers CDs, DVDs, recordings from IPTV, and TV recordings." A few folks have noted that this story is incorrect. The original link seems to be down now anyway. Sorry.

Comments

In the words of a famous 'german'..

[Czar the Bizarre]

i see noooothing, i hear nooothing !!

Re:In the words of a famous 'german'..

[ShatteredArm]

I think auf Deutsch it would be, "I see nussing, I hear nussing!"

Better hurry then

[jtroutman]

That gives you three months to make all the copies you're going to need.

Paging Trent Reznor

[ackthpt]

You have a calling.

Re:what about copying comments?

[Anonymous Coward]

How fucking dare you suggest that Zonk or his ass-buddy K Dawson might possibly have no clue what they are "editing"? Do you work for Microsoft or something?

So sad.

[bi$hop]

I remember the good ol' days when copying of DVDs and CDs was just farhfegnugen in Germany. Now it's verboten? Next thing you know it will be gesundheit!

Re:what about copying comments?

[darkvizier]

The law does not prohibit the copying of DVDs or CDs; it disallows the circumvention of anti-copying technologies like Macrovision et al., something that has been illegal in the US for a decade. Ah well that's good, because as stated previously it would be completely unenforceable unless they outlaw the possession of recordable media/recording devices. But, wait - It's still nearly impossible to enforce due to privacy laws (police can't just walk into a house to check if people are circumventing copy protection) and P2P sharing over the internet, which makes it very difficult to stop the distribution of circumvention software. Oh well... time for more inefficient use of tax dollars.

That's REALLY impressive!

[erroneus]

Clearly German legislators are less expensive than those of many other nations! I'll keep that in mind when I need to buy a new law! :)

Surprise! I support this law

[dada21]

Yes, your loving anarcho-capitalist, me, loudly pronounces his support of this great law.

It is my belief that the best way to get rid of government is to let it collapse on itself. We need more taxes, more laws, more regulations and more actions to be considered crimes -- at all levels of government. Not only would all this new legislation and income create a more massive bureaucracy that will just stifle its ability to do anything right, but it will help open the eyes of every being in seeing what a waste government is.

I love adding new non-violent action laws to the books: all it does is make the black market that much more fruitful for those willing to take the risk. Why just stop at copying the CD and DVD to another CD or DVD? Let's make it illegal to copy ANY information off of a CD or DVD into any other form, including RAM, so that just playing it is wrong.

"Did you see that new movie? It's gorgeous, bright and shiny, and the case is really nice!"

"What's the plot?"

"I don't know, I didn't want to risk playing it. But the DVD is nice!!!"

Re:what about copying comments?

[bytesmythe]

It would probably be a lot like this:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29620